Male Participation in Early Childhood Education (By Ignatius Moses)

Establishing oneself in a specific career begins with one enrolling for training in an institution of higher learning. Career development is a life-long process that should be given a careful thought and adequately planned for. If well thought of, it should provide meaningful, productive and satisfying quality career choices. Career decision making is a complex process affected by various factors that come into interplay in one’s own life (Brown and Brooks, 2002).

ECE is one of the courses one may choose to pursue. However as a career, it has been highly engendered. According to Mukuna, E and Mutsotso, N. (2011), gender imbalance in the pre-school teaching profession has been a common practice globally. An Australian College of Educators’ National Survey of the Teachers’ Workforce for example, found that two thirds of all the school teachers to comprise females with men preferring managerial positions. Consistently, Australian College of Educators, (2001) found that male ECE teachers expressed greater desire to apply for managerial positions rather than classroom teaching.

In Kenya, the situation hasn’t been different. Several researchers have identified high gender disparity as far as early childhood service delivery is concerned. Waithaka (2002) in her study among schools in Thika District established that out of a total of 166 pre-school teachers, only one was male. Gakii (2004) in a study conducted at Miriga Mieru division of Meru County found that out of 475 pre-school teachers in the division only two were male. In Nairobi, Kivuva (1996) reveals that of all preschool teachers, 94.6% were female, while 5.4% were male. This information shows the extent to which early childhood education has been engendered not just in Kenya but in the entire world as well.

Several factors and stereotypes hinder men’s participation in ECE. Many feminist scholars insist that there are no natural differences between men and women, and that sex discrimination is the primary reason for differences between men and women in ECE labour market outcomes (Bryson, 1992; Phillips, 2004).

On their part, MacNaughton and Newton, (2001) argue that the effects of increasing male participation in children’s services workforce could be problematic, especially if the presence of men perpetuated traditional gender roles and stereotypes.

The argument of many is that additional men in the field would do more harm than good by denying female workers opportunities to advance in managerial and other senior positions. Others according to Cameron (2001) contend that since males are more likely to be sexual predators of young children than females, they could be restricted in their duties because of the heightened regulations on them. Carrington (2002) was highly concerned by the fact that despite playing the same role of a teacher, men are under more pressure to act differently when handling children.

Males too have had a fair share towards this disparity. On this, Ghorbani (2008) found that men had unrealistic salary expectations during their first year of teaching. As a result of this unrealistic expectation, they place a lot of importance on the amount of money to be earned when making a choice regarding a job to undertake as well as job satisfaction.

High salaries, according to Ghorbani, tempt men to administrative and managerial positions in certain schools. To a worse extent, men may even quit teaching jobs all together in search of better paying jobs. Macharia, (2011) found out that gender disparities in career choice results from cultural beliefs, upbringing factors and support an individual receives from the society that usually have gender as the main factor. The perception the society has pertaining to gender and career plays a major role in individual’s career choice. For instance, in most cultures ECE in particular is regarded as a female career. Karanja (2009) shares the same sentiments. In her study, Karanja found out that the high gender disparity in preschools among teachers is brought about by the fact that parents prefer taking their children to schools with female teachers. The argument behind this is that the society considers female teachers to be well positioned to take care of young ones since it is their natural role. This locks men out of employment in this sector. Neugebauer, (1999), Cunningham and Dorsey (2004), agree on this, and add that many people in and out of the early childhood sector believe that women are naturally predisposed to caring for young children whereas men are not. This is due to the fact that, in most cultures, the responsibility of bringing up children is bestowed on women both at home and in other environs (Koech, 2010). With such perception from the society, few men will be willing to risk pursuing a career in ECE.

Parents too have played their part as far as engendering ECE is concerned. Their unsympathetic attitudes towards males not only impact on recruitment but also on their retention. On recruitment, parents will emphasise on the institution employing female teachers as opposed to their counterparts. In addition their pressure towards school administration requiring them employ females would see many males lose their job or quit voluntarily quit. This has seen some males, even though willing to be part of workforce, denied an opportunity to work.

Even with these challenges, the need for male role models cannot be disputed as agreed by Nelson and Ruddock, (2004), who contend that lack of these models has a detrimental impact on the education of the boy child.

Despite the challenges noted above, there is an emergent trend in Kenya of men training as professionals in Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) though they are underrepresented in ECE workforce.

ROLE OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING IN PROPAGATING DISCIPLINE IN SCHOOLS

Cosmus M. Gatuyu (M.Ed.) 2015®

Discipline and indiscipline

Discipline refers to training especially of the mind and character aimed at producing self-control, orderly behaviour and skilfulness. The guidance that attends to discipline must be continuously given (Wangu and Ndungu, 2002).  At the root of good student performance is discipline. Indiscipline on the other hand is negative attitude and unwillingness to make efforts required to achieve the objectives chosen (Barasa, 1990). As a result of indiscipline, the student becomes a deviant.

Historical perspective

The pattern of response to unrests in Kenyan schools by the Ministry of Education has been mainly of crisis management. As a result, many schemes have been hastily conceived with little regard for aims and objectives of education.  According to Tattum (1989), research and educational thinking about indiscipline and related issues have progressed since mid-1970s with contributions adopting more proactive, preventive approach to disruptive behaviour.

Starting with Elton committee in 1988, the government embarked on an inquiry into discipline in schools (Republic of Kenya 1988). This was in view to public concern about violence and indiscipline in schools. Elton’s inquiry into discipline in schools was concerned with an aspect of school life which is important for practical, social, educational and moral reasons. This gives discipline an instrumental role, it is something which must be achieved before the real business of education can take place.

Considering the complexities of classroom and school communities, it is no surprise that the problem of maintaining discipline in schools continue to be the number one concern of students, teachers, parents and school administrators (Elam and Rose, 1995)

Importance of discipline in schools

A school is an institution and therefore an organized group guided by rules and regulations for proper and effective functioning. According to Sofaya and Shaida (1979), in every society there is need for regulating the relations of the members of the organized group. Each member possesses and enjoys certain freedom.

This freedom of a member is restricted by the equal freedom of other people among whom a member lives. It consist in the exercise of a members rights which implies an obligation on the part of the others to respect it. Similarly, a student’s right to engage himself or herself in any school activity implies that he/she should not be disturbed by others. Proper discipline in a school will definitely ensure this.

These rights and obligations are regulated by law and order in a society and also in a school. Such laws of schools may be in form of traditions or customs which must be respected by everyone in the school. Discipline is needed to maintain these traditions and to secure obedience to them. Securing such orderly conditions will facilitate the process of teaching and learning. According to Nacino, Oke and Brown (1982), discipline in various sorts is an inherent part of succeeding in anything. In history, great men and women were all disciplined struggling against apparently insuperable odds until they overcame them.

In a school set up;-

1.      Discipline gives a student sense of security by telling them what they may do or may not do. Discipline is an ego-bolstering motivation which encourages accomplishing what is required of them at school.

2.      Discipline helps students to develop a conscience that guides them in making their own decisions and controlling their own behavior.

3.      Discipline helps students to avoid frequent feeling of guilt and shame for misbehavior

4.      Discipline helps students to achieve standards approval. This builds self-esteem.

5.      Discipline helps students to develop their God given potentials and therefore achieve maximum development in various areas; physical, psychological, spiritual, social, moral and intellectual development.

6.      Discipline helps a school achieve its objectives.

According to Kisirikoi,; Wachira and Malusu (2008), school discipline is important because it helps both teachers and learners to be more organized in their work hence carry it out more smoothly and effectively, helps students respond positively to various challenges like lack of adequate resources, protects individuals from negative influence and besides helps all concerned to gain self-fulfilment and satisfaction through school activities especially when their goals are achieved.

Foundations of Good Discipline in Schools

A school is a system and as such consists of various players playing various roles for achievement of common goals. The conduct of the school head and the teachers, the state of school buildings, furniture, equipment and playground ought to instil in the students a positive regard for the school and its laws. According to Sofaya and Shaida (1979), the following factors are foundations of good discipline in a school:

a)    The head teacher

The success or failure of any school system depends upon the personality of the head teacher. The head teacher ought to possess some philosophy of discipline. As successful disciplinarian, the head teacher should involve learners by giving them an adequate share in the management of school affairs.

b)    Teachers and teaching methods

The teacher is the fountain – head of all good discipline and character formation. With good teachers, half of the school’s challenge of indiscipline gets solved and checked.               When appropriate teaching methods are employed, chances of learners getting distracted and engaging in indiscipline activities or tendencies will be minimized. A good teaching method should be directed towards producing well-adjusted and self-disciplined individuals as well as building up high morale. The utilization of modern progressive methods of teaching, in which pupil activities are brought into play and harnessed for educative purposes, largely eliminates the possibility of any type of indiscipline.

c)     A good school environment

Every school ought to prepare its calendar of events at the beginning of a new school session. This should serve to give a clear idea of the aims, the courses of study and administrative rules and regulations as well as the plans for co-curricular activities of the institution. Together with this, the school premises together with the external environment should be well maintained as this contributes greatly to shape the education that students receive as well as maintenance of genuine discipline and adjustment.

d)    Co-curricular activities

Co-curricular activities such as sports, scouting, social services and community services develop in students a sense of self control and confidence. These are key to good discipline.

e)     Self-Government in school

In every secondary school students should be reasonably involved in the administration of discipline as well as in health, sports, drama and other school activities. Such environment make obedience to rules and regulations far more real, meaningful and freely willed, than when same was passed on as imposition from authorities. This involvement in authority and responsibility coupled with sympathetic and friendly teachers will provide first hand training on upholding of good desirable discipline.

f)      Effective Teamwork

Students are always influenced by how they see their teachers and react accordingly. A sense of unity, co-operation and fellow feeling prevailing among the school staff is sure to reflect upon the students. The students watch and imitate the teachers’ behaviour. Thus to promote desirable discipline among students it must first be established and maintained among members of the school staff. The head teacher ought to endeavour to co-ordinate the efforts of different individuals and groups in the best interest of the school. This is a sure way of securing effective teamwork in the school.

g)    Building up Traditions

School discipline is closely connected with school traditions. The higher and nobler the traditions built up by a school, the greater the efforts on the part of the students and teachers to work to maintain such traditions.

Root Causes of Indiscipline and Student Unrest in Schools

A student is influenced by two major environments; the environment out there (out of school) and one within (in the school). In this line therefore, today indiscipline in schools is seen to emerge from both internal and external causes.

i)       Internal causes of indiscipline

These causes are to be found within the school. They touch mainly on the administration, the teachers as well as the students themselves either as individuals or as a group.

ii)    Administration related causes

The welfare of the students, the general look of a school, proper co-ordination of activities and various players in a school largely depend on the administration. With strict rules most of which are imposed on students, comes discomforts and eventually unrest. If some rules imposed by the administration are vague, oppressive and at times applied selectively, students may tend to nurse revenge and this will eventually lead to disturbances in the school.

Lack of proper communication is another sticky issue, for example the head teacher decides to withdraw a certain facility or privilege without consulting the students. Poor financial management leading to misappropriation of school funds by the administration eventually leads to students unrests due to lack of basic facilities and services.

The other factor is that, if there is poor relationship between the administration and the teachers, such teachers may incite the students against the administration.

iii)  Teacher related causes

According to Clark and Starr (1981), and Nacino, Oke and Brown (1982), student misbehaviour in the school may be caused by teachers themselves. This comes up due to the following;

i)        When teachers fail to properly plan their lessons with clear objectives. This fails to motivate learners who eventually get bored and loose interest in learning.

ii)      Misbehavior may come up when learning becomes monotonous and boring due to lack of creativity on part of the teacher.

iii)    Unethical conduct of teachers for example teachers using derogative language on students lowering their self-esteem. 

iv)    Teachers ought to treat students with firmness but respectfully. Rude arrogant, unsympathetic and sarcastic teachers are most likely to trigger misbehavior among students.

iv)  Student related causes

Within the school set up there is peer influence. These are adolescents in secondary schools and adolescents are known to be greatly influenced by the behaviour of other students. Imitation of bad behaviour may lead to indiscipline.

When too much power is vested on the prefect body, other students are likely to rebel and cause havoc in the school. Inwardly the nature, character self-esteem and attitude of individual students may serve as a catalyst to misbehaviour. According to Safaya and Shaida (1979), physical and mental deformities, intellectual inferiority and superiority, stormy age of adolescence and bad habits are among several factors that contribute to student misbehaviour in schools.

External Causes of Indiscipline

The environment out of school, where students come from and occasionally experience during holidays also impact on their discipline. This is consequently exhibited at school and if negative then bad behaviour will be seen being exhibited by students. Here comes in various social factors that may cause indiscipline and include the following:

i)        Bad home environment touching on the child’s parents, relatives and neighborhood companions. Poor parental guidance comes here.

ii)      Political factors; with political activities in the country exhibiting lack of spirit of nationalism, lack of balanced self-assertion and intolerance, students seem to imitate the same and cause indiscipline in schools.

iii)    According to Nacino, Oke and Brown (1982), indiscipline in schools can be related with the education system leading to misbehavior due to curriculum. This comes up when subject content are outdated, irrelevant or of little interest to students

Other external factors causing indiscipline among students include:

i)        Out of school peer groups

ii)      Child labour inducing environment.

iii)    Insecurity within and outside the school.

iv)    Rejection of head teacher by the community.

v)      Unauthorized visitors in schools.

Effects of Indiscipline and School Unrests on Education

As put by Reid (1986), ensuring that learners accept authority of teachers and maintaining order and discipline in schools is of vital importance to teaching profession. Without such order there would be chaos. Teaching would become twice as stressful occupation for school heads, deputies and classroom teachers.

Rogers (1996), asserts that managing discipline in schools is critical to reducing teachers stress. Disruptive behaviour, poor working conditions, and time pressure contribute to teachers diminishing self-esteem, lack of confidence and feelings of insecurity and this impact negatively on their ability to teach.

In schools where violence is common the teachers are also not secure since students sometimes turn their anger towards them. This insecurity means that teachers are not motivated to do their work. Failure to instil discipline among students make schools feed the society with corrupted and indiscipline graduates (Ngozi Oduah, 2002). Much of learning time is wasted when cases of unrests occur. This makes quite hard for the teachers to cover the academic work expected to be done by the students. This in general has led to poor performance in schools.

Suggested Solutions to School Unrests and Violence

Discipline and management are central to effective schools. All teachers are responsible as professionals for managing discipline in schools. Self-esteem and self-confidence are central to management of indiscipline. Blandford (1998) says that the outward manifestations of the ability of individuals to either discipline themselves or have discipline thrust upon them, is displayed in their attitude and behaviour towards others and their environment. The boundaries of acceptable behaviour should low schools to be harmonious and humane communities in order to create an environment conducive for serious learning. Where such issues are accepted, learners will have self-control to manage their behaviour and attitudes with strong presence of authority figures.

According to Okumbe (1998), there is preventive and corrective discipline.

1.      Preventive discipline entails the educational manager taking an administrative action to encourage employees and students to follow the standards, rules and regulations which prevents infractions. The principle is to instill self-discipline among organizational participants. In order to encourage preventive discipline educational managers should provide an enabling organizational climate in which expected standards are stated positively.

2.      Corrective discipline is the administrative action which follows an infraction of a rule. Corrective discipline is aimed at discouraging further infringement of a rule.

Normally the administrative action meted out is a disciplinary action.

Educational managers should strive to minimize corrective discipline by strengthening preventive discipline. According to Kisirikoi, Wachira and Malusu (2008), among the many issues that may require counselling in schools is the issue of behavioural problems. They note that in their effort to make adjustments some learners have behavioural problems manifested in truancy, delinquency or general indiscipline. Sometimes this is a problem with individual students while at other times it is peer behaviour. Counselling involves identification of the cause of the problem and trying to rectify it. Counselling should help pupils understand of especially preventive discipline.

Benefits of using ICT in Teaching and Learning

The benefits of technology in education have been lauded for many years, from

Thomas Edison’s 1910 proclamation that film would transform education making books obsolete, to the most recent phenomenon of using the Internet for instructional purposes. Large sums of money have been spent over the years on the researching and investment of new technologies for education, such as the 170 million dollars spent in the 1950’s on testing the use of television for educational purposes by the Ford Foundation in the US, to the more recent investments in computer and networking infrastructure in schools which saw 40 billion dollars spent in the decade leading up to 2003 alone. With so much promised and invested, the question begs as to what the benefits of using technology in education are. Some of the identified benefits of using technology from educational research include the following.

Technology Improves Student Achievement on Tests. There is mounting evidence that technology improves student achievement on tests in both core subject areas as well as overall Grade Point Averages (GPAs). According to a study by Gulek, (2005), one of the major areas in which greater achievement has been seen is in math.  Significantly higher test scores and grades were also registered for writing, English-language arts, mathematics, and overall Grade Point Averages (GPAs) among students who used technology in their study, according to Gulek, (2005). Gains in test achievement are not only seen as a result of using technology to study, but also in the use of technology for assessment, particularly for students with special needs. Students that have physical and learning disabilities may underperform on tests not because they have not mastered the content, but possibly because of the format through which the test is administered (Dolan, 2005).

Technology has also been identified as being able to improve the quality of student work. Research supports that technology has the potential to improve quantitative assessment performance in all curriculum subjects. However, there is also mounting evidence that technology not only has a quantitative advantage over traditional methods, but also leads to qualitative improvements; resulting in higher-quality student work. Students who use computers when learning to write are not only more engaged and motivated in their writing, but also produce work that is of greater length and higher quality, especially at the secondary level (Gulek, 2005, pg. 29). Improvement in writing when utilizing technology is especially evident with regard to students with special needs and low-achievers. Such students appear to improve even more than both average students and high-achievers when doing so via word processor rather than with conventional Instructional methods (Hannafin, 2001).

Technology has great benefits to students with Special Needs. According to a study by Koedinger, (2008), improved writing is not the only area in which students with special needs benefit from technology. One study found that students with Dyslexia improved significantly in reading ability when a computer remediation program, Fast ForWord Language, was used and that in some cases dyslexic student scores were raised into the normal range (Temple, 2003). It was found that such remediation led to “improved language, reading performance and increased activation in multiple brain regions during phonological processing” (Temple, 2003).

Technology Improves Attitudes towards Learning. Many research studies have found that most students prefer learning with technology, which in turn leads to a better attitude towards learning as well as giving them more confidence. In a Cognitive Tutor study by Morgan (2002), students exposed to ICTs in their study were found to believe that technology “made it easier to do school work, made them more interested in learning, and would help them get better jobs in the future.”  According to Lowther (2007) students with special needs similarly felt that they did better on computer based tests and nearly all recommended the program for other students. Although many studies find that student attitude towards learning improves using technology, some studies have not found significant difference in student attitude or motivation (Funkhouser, Winter 2003; Dolan, 2005). However, most research tends to support the correlation of improved attitude with technology use.

Technology Provides Individualized Learning. One aspect which may contribute to improved attitude towards learning is that many uses of technology in learning allow for individualized learning. According to Koedinger (2008), Computer Aided Instruction (CAI), especially when used for drill and practice as a tool for teaching in a traditional sense allows students to take control of the rate of learning and helps them to avoid embarrassment by allowing them to learn and make mistakes in a non-public manner. Students know right away that they are making progress and having success at a challenging task. Further, because the system does not make a big deal out of errors, students do not feel the social stigma associated with making an error in class or on homework. Errors are a private event that are usually quickly resolved and the student is then back to making progress (Koedinger, 2008). Moreover, such Computer Assisted Instruction provides feedback immediately which leads to reductions in learning time. This is very likely to be a key element in making students feel more confident as well as leading to better attitudes towards learning. Such feedback reduces student frustration and provides a sense of accomplishment (Koedinger, 2008). Teachers also benefit from the way the tutor programs accommodate a large number of questions students have. This frees them up “to give more individualized help to students with particular needs” (Koedinger, 2008) – which in turn benefits students with special needs and who are at risk.

Technology Acts as a Catalyst for Change. One of the greatest areas in which technology has the potential to benefit education is its role in being a catalyst for change in educational pedagogy. Research shows that student centred constructivist approaches to education lead to better achievement in testing as well as preparing students with the skills necessary in the modern workplace. One study done in Turkey found that students who learned in a classroom with a constructivist approach to learning showed greater cooperation and collaboration, higher levels of learning, more confidence, and more willingness to participate in learning activities (Erdamar, 2008). Technology on its own will probably not be the determining factor in bringing about such change. As one study concluded, simply having computers in the room is not necessarily going to lead to student centred learning, indeed teachers may not even use the computer (Norton, 2000).

Technology Prepares Students for the Future. The future workplace will require students to have skills related to technology including the technical ability to use spread sheets, word processors, databases and such. By having and working with technology in schools, students gain the skills that they will need to be marketable in the future workplace and to operate in a high-tech world. However, these technical skills are not enough. The modern workplace requires that one have less tangible skills including the ability to collaborate with others, interpersonal skills, creativity, and problem solving skills, to name a few. Technology, combined with a student centred constructivist mode of learning, has the potential to provide students with these higher-level cognitive and interpersonal skills (Lowther, 2007).